HAPPY JULY 4TH!!!!!

Happy July 4th everyone!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE July Fourth, here are my plans in pictures:





Pool day with Lynn-eliz! Unfortunately, hurricane Alex doesn't like this idea very much, but we'll make it work!












Brats on the grill complete with onions and peppers, potato salad, normal salad and a red white and blue dessert (think strawberries, blueberries and miracle whip)! Can't wait!
















We will move it to our favorite restaurant/bar across from the beach to stake our ground for fireworks. I LOVE fireworks, and I'm super stoked about fireworks over the water! mmmm yay!










HAPPY FOURTH of JULY !!!!!!!

New Favorite Recipe!!!!!

Very random update (more soon when my computer is up and running!):

I just want to share this recipe with y'all. I keep making it and it is even more amazing everytime!
The only thing I do differently is that I use regular pesto and add sundried tomatoes....

ENJOY!

This savory main dish is quick and easy to make.

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 8 minutes

Nutrition Score per serving:

433 calories, 44 g carbs (41%), 13 g fat (27%), 4 g fiber, 35 g protein (32%)

Ingredients

2	cups instant brown rice
4	skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves, rinsed well and patted dry
2	teaspoons olive oil
1	14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion
1/4	cup sun-dried tomato pesto
1	14-ounce can artichoke hearts in water, drained and quartered
	Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cook rice according to package directions, without adding fat or salt.

Meanwhile, season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook one minute per side, until golden brown and seared. Using tongs, remove chicken from pan; set aside.

Add canned tomato mix to pan. Simmer for one minute, stirring constantly and incorporating any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in pesto and artichokes. Return chicken to pan. Cover and simmer for five minutes, until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken and sauce over cooked rice.

http://www.shape.com/healthy_eating/recipes/chicken_with_artichoke_hearts_and_tomatoes_recipe

Academic Update

I'm two/three weeks into my second semester at UTMB. I finished my first semester with a couple of exams and the requisite stress fest. But I'm very happy to report that I received A's in both of my graded courses and I am now a 4.0 student! I don't think I've ever had a 4.0, so I'm kinda excited!

This semester I'm taking two half semester courses, Immunology (first 8 weeks) and Microbiology (2nd 8 weeks). I was going to take a Cancer class but not enough people signed up for the class, so I ended up in only Immunolgy this 8-weeks. I'm kind of loving only having one class!

I started my 1st lab rotation on the 4th. I'm in Dr. Boehning's lab, he is the Chair of the Department of Cell Biology. Here is his website: http://boehninglab.org/default.aspx
He does apoptosis research. Apoptosis is when a cell kills its self from the inside in a controlled manner. This happens normally in a lot of situations, but a lot of neurodegenerative diseases are caused by too much apoptosis, and tumors can grow when there isn't enough apoptosis. I am working on an ovarian cancer project, looking at BRCA1 mutant ovarian cells that are resistant to paclitaxel (the normally chemotherapeutic agent).

In March I will start in Dr. Pomila Singh's lab. http://hiss.utmb.edu/ncb/faculty/PomilaSingh.asp

Thats all for now!

Its been a while.....

so.... I know, I started this with every intention of keeping it going but clearly I'm not good at that. So in the spirit of the New Year I'll try again.

I think I'm just going to put up some pictures from the last few months ..... a picture is worth a thousand words you know.

A classmate of mine, Lynn, and I went to the Pasadena Rodeo in October.... It was amazing. WE bought boots before we went, then after we went to the dance hall and learned how to two step. All of the pictures are in an album on Facebook, but here are the real gems:

Oliver: The biggest animal I think I've ever seen. (Well maybe except at a zoo)

Bull riding: Very hard to get good pictures because its so quick.

Best dinner EVER: Barbecue baked potato (yes, a baked potato with barbecue on top) and strawberry lemonade! (With a bendy straw of course!)
My new boots: very tight, so I had to use a plastic bag to get them on.


Melissa came to visit in October (maybe September?)
We went to Houston one night, and then visited the amazing Galleria mall.... it has an ICE SKATING RINK!

Melissa and Mitch got married over thanksgiving break.... I would have pictures of that, but those pesky photographers won't let you steal pictures from their site!

We ended the first semester with exams the week of the 14th. We celebrated by going to The Spot.... one of my faves. Here's a picture on the patio of the restaurant. Notice: LACK OF WAVES!

VERY interesting bunch to say the least! Then I was off to NC for Christmas!

Well thats all for now. Hopefully more VERY VERY SOON!

The weekly FLOOD!!!

I totally underestimated the impact that living 10 feet above sea level has on your everyday life. Whenever if pours REALLY hard... which is weekly because that is the only kind of rain we get, the whole island is basically underwater. 4" of water for the 100' from my front door to my car is really tricky on these rainy day.

The Eyes of Texas

The Eyes of Texas:

The eyes of Texas are upon you,

All the live long day.

The eyes of Texas are upon you,

You cannot get away.

Do not think you can escape them,

At night, or early in the morn'.

The eyes of Texas are upon you,

Till Gabriel blows his horn!

(Sung to the tune of "I've been workin' on the Railroad")

What everyone sings around here.... basically everyone knows the song. I'm apparently supposed to learn it since it is my school, so I'm working on it.

Let me know if you understand what it means (I think they just made it up one day because everyone else had a song!).

1st Week of School

So I've officially completed my first week of school, I attended a total of 7 classes...... pretty light week!

Classes:
Biochemistry
Cell Biology
Academic Success Skills and Ethics
Principles of Laboratory Biosafety
Frontiers of Science (Seminars)

Highlights:

I went to my first seminar ( I have to go to 12 by the end of the semester), which I thought was a seminar, but was actually a "Work In Progress" talk by a 4th year grad student. Something about an immunodeficient mouse model to study VEE infection impact in mice. I don't know what she was talking about but it was in the Galveston National Lab with all of the crazy diseases. They do a lot of stuff there including a lot of mosquito work. What was the first thing I saw after I sat down? A mosquito!!! So, when I come down with malaria next week.... you will all know where it came from!

We started our Lab Biosafety class which is 3 hours long...... weekly. This week's lecture consisted of a 3 hour discussion on PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). She spent 10 whole minutes discussing factors you need to consider before choosing latex or nitrile gloves! Then we had to practice "donning and doffing" our gloves... omg terrible! This classes is going to be brutal!

I started coaching gymnastics this week at Acrofit Gymnastics. The owner used to coach with Bela Karolyi at Karolyi's, bought the gym from Bela and moved it to Kemah, TX which is a little more than 30 minutes from my apartment. I'm working Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 4-8. I'll be working with thier (huge) afterschool program for the first hour and then team levels 4-8. Its a very different environment than Apex Gymnastics, more competitive.... smaller team.


NC State played the first game of the season on Thursday against South Carolina. A few of us went out to watch the game and cheer on the PACK! My friend Roberto is from Peru and we had to explain EVERY rule of football to him. NC State lost, but at least not 34-0 like last time!

This weekend (Labor Day) I went to San Antonio with Meaghan Owney (from Raleigh) to go tubing on the Guadalupe River. I'll put pictures up of it when I get the disposable camera developed!


I guess that's it! On to week number 2!